01-30-2014, 02:52 AM
In our on-going efforts to reduce the predation load at Yuba, four of us ventured out from Painted Rocks this morning. Wyoguy, Rowdyfish and a friend joined me for a pretty nice day on the ice. The predicted storm hadn't reached Yuba today and we had good conditions with a little south breeze.
We found the ice conditions basically unchanged from last week. The edges are mostly solid with some buildup in a few places but getting on and off wasn't a problem.
There were several other groups at the ramp when I arrived at 0730 to wait for the Evanston contingent.
We took ATVs and went north and west about two miles to a large shallow bay on the east side of the lake. We could see some other fishermen across the lake and two vehicles had driven down to the shore on the west side near the large pressure ridge.
We set up in 20 feet of water near the location Pikeman99 and I fished last Thursday.
Action was very slow.
At about 1130 I saw a large target on my Showdown that came up from the bottom, looked briefly at my deep line and then it went directly up to my shallow line which was 11 feet down. The rig was a treble hook on an 8" nylon coated steel leader. I also placed a large Colorado spinner blade at the top end of the leader. I thought the Colorado spinner blade would add some flash to assist the pike in seeing the bait in the low visibility water. I would estimate there is only about 3 to 4 feet of visibility at Yuba now. The fish remained right at my bait for nearly a minute and I had just about decided it was a carp or some other species not interested in the chub strip. I had a very quick and violent strike and I set the hook on a good fish. Due to the shallow depth, the fish was at the hole in a short time. Rowdy assisted in landing the pike by getting a grip in the gills. The pike was just over 38 inches in length, 17 inches in girth and I estimated the weight at about 12 pounds. We didn't have a scale with us today.
Here's a photo of the pike, my biggest ever through the ice.
![[Image: Yuba01292014009_zps14284a3c.jpg]](http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/Yuba01292014009_zps14284a3c.jpg)
I figure removal of this pike probably saved hundreds of small fish destined to be added to the biomass soon. When we returned to the ramp in the afternoon there were about six or seven vehicles still there. Apparently the KSL Outdoors story last week has generated some interest and increased fishing pressure on the pike. It really shouldn't hurt to remove some more of the toothy critters.
I thought since I retained one pike over 36 inches today, I was sure to catch a 46 inch, 32 pound State record which I would have to release. Didn't happen but not for the lack of trying!
Here's a photo of how I rigged my bait today. This photo was taken after the pike tore it up quite a bit. It started out as a four inch long fillet with the tail attached.
![[Image: 81057e52-bbd3-4611-a18b-e43bde49ac72_zps...1391050706]](http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/81057e52-bbd3-4611-a18b-e43bde49ac72_zps9b60ff2f.jpg?t=1391050706)
I found a website that has a method of estimating weight of fish by using the length and girth. According to their chart, my pike should weigh about 11.85 pounds. We when split up the fish this afternoon I checked the stomach contents and found a 10 inch carp in the belly. Therefore, I think my estimate may have been pretty close. [
]
Mike
[signature]
We found the ice conditions basically unchanged from last week. The edges are mostly solid with some buildup in a few places but getting on and off wasn't a problem.
There were several other groups at the ramp when I arrived at 0730 to wait for the Evanston contingent.
We took ATVs and went north and west about two miles to a large shallow bay on the east side of the lake. We could see some other fishermen across the lake and two vehicles had driven down to the shore on the west side near the large pressure ridge.
We set up in 20 feet of water near the location Pikeman99 and I fished last Thursday.
Action was very slow.
At about 1130 I saw a large target on my Showdown that came up from the bottom, looked briefly at my deep line and then it went directly up to my shallow line which was 11 feet down. The rig was a treble hook on an 8" nylon coated steel leader. I also placed a large Colorado spinner blade at the top end of the leader. I thought the Colorado spinner blade would add some flash to assist the pike in seeing the bait in the low visibility water. I would estimate there is only about 3 to 4 feet of visibility at Yuba now. The fish remained right at my bait for nearly a minute and I had just about decided it was a carp or some other species not interested in the chub strip. I had a very quick and violent strike and I set the hook on a good fish. Due to the shallow depth, the fish was at the hole in a short time. Rowdy assisted in landing the pike by getting a grip in the gills. The pike was just over 38 inches in length, 17 inches in girth and I estimated the weight at about 12 pounds. We didn't have a scale with us today.
Here's a photo of the pike, my biggest ever through the ice.
I figure removal of this pike probably saved hundreds of small fish destined to be added to the biomass soon. When we returned to the ramp in the afternoon there were about six or seven vehicles still there. Apparently the KSL Outdoors story last week has generated some interest and increased fishing pressure on the pike. It really shouldn't hurt to remove some more of the toothy critters.
I thought since I retained one pike over 36 inches today, I was sure to catch a 46 inch, 32 pound State record which I would have to release. Didn't happen but not for the lack of trying!
Here's a photo of how I rigged my bait today. This photo was taken after the pike tore it up quite a bit. It started out as a four inch long fillet with the tail attached.
I found a website that has a method of estimating weight of fish by using the length and girth. According to their chart, my pike should weigh about 11.85 pounds. We when split up the fish this afternoon I checked the stomach contents and found a 10 inch carp in the belly. Therefore, I think my estimate may have been pretty close. [
]Mike
[signature]
![[Image: Yuba01292014021_zps6ed0a8f2.jpg]](http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc127/topwater52/Yuba01292014021_zps6ed0a8f2.jpg)
